I can't believe I have neglected this blog since July! I was always terrible at journalling. The biggest news is that we are now surviving without our fabulous nanny Cassie. Since Sean is in school full-time it just didn't make economical sense to have a nanny just for Aaliyah. Both kids miss her and her baby Gracie and mention them daily.

We also had a visit from some of my husband's Missouri AND German relatives:



It was an action packed summer but on to FALL!!!

Busy 4th weekend!

We had Friday off so I ran errands with the kids (Got Sean’s 2 pair of glasses fixed, hair cut for him, tried to find a gift for Kevin, and cancelled my fitness club membership) and then we went to the Taste of MN in the evening for food and fireworks. Saturday, Aaliyah and I met some friends at the Mall of America to celebrate one of my friend’s birthday w/ a lunch. We then had Kevin’s sister and her two kids over for dinner, cake for Kevin and fireworks. Sunday was just a normal church day but then Aaliyah and I went and visited a friend and her new 2 week old baby. Busy weekend and now I’m back in the training room for the week. Two weeks until Kevin’s German cousin arrives…

I am just so heartsick over this story that I read on CNN about Duke administrator Frank M. Lombard who was molesting his 5 year old adopted son and offering him up on the internet to other pedophiles. http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/06/30/duke.molestation.internet/index.html

Jon & Kate

Not a big Jon & Kate plus 8 fan but, I must say that, if you have gone through infertility you know what a strain that can be on a marriage. Add cameras and what marriage under those sorts of strains would not suffer?

Madonna gets Mercy

On one hand I am happy for Madonna that after 3 years has won her battle to adopt little Mercy James, the Malawian girl that she fell in love with on her first visit to Malawi in 2006 with her then husband, Guy Ritchie. As an adoptive mom, I can hardly imagine having to walk away from a child in an orphanage that I believed was "the one." But on the other hand, it does appear that perhaps the courts bent the rules a little bit for a celebrity.

Going to Florida for a week of fun with the family. I'll come back recharged and ready to blog! :-)

I went to an all day MN ASAP (Minnesota Adoption Support and Preservation) yesterday. I'll blog more about the sessions later but what was really interesting to me were the connections that I made there... I met a friend of the owner of the adoption referral agency (Heaven Sent Adoptions in Michigan) that we used for my son's adoption...met an adoptive mom that used the same agency in Utah that we used for our daughter's adoption....met the foster mom of our favorite respite foster kid ever! It was an interesting day to say the least. More later.

Interesting quote that I StumbleUpon today: it's better to have said too much than never to say what you need to be say. I think I have always erred on the side of saying too much. LOL!!!

Top 41 Goals for 2009

Inspired by fellow RVC member/Facebook Friend Kirsten S., here are my 41 goals for my 41st year. They are in no particular order of importance and if I do not complete some of them I'll just shift them over to my 42nd year. :-)

1. Lose 15 pounds…again.
2. Take a pro bono case
3. Open our home up to a foster son/daughter full-time.
4. Go on a mission trip to Swaziland in Southern Africa.
5. Cut my credit card debt in half or down to zero.
6. Start an adoption plan consulting business. DONE www.adoptionplancoach.com
7. Visit a friend who lives someplace other than Minnesota or Massachusetts.
8. Plan a wicked (in a good way) celebration or trip for Kevin’s 40th birthday.
9. Plan a wicked (in a good way) celebration for our 12th wedding anniversary.
10. Take the kids to a Minneapolis Holidazzle parade.
11. Take a daily calcium supplement.
12. Drink 24 ounces of water per day.
13. Use the treadmill at least twice a week.
14. Play golf a minimum of six times.
15. Call a friend to chat once a month.
16. Have two spa days.
17. Host a backyard tent sleep over for Sean and his friends.
18. Plan a “cost conscious” family vacation.
19. Go bowling at least once.
20. Do at least two volunteer events at RVC.
21. Donate blood again. DONE
22. Take kids to the MN State Fair.
23. Take one cooking class.
24. Finish updating our Wills, Power-of-Attorneys and Healthcare directives.
25. Do four mother/son activities with Sean.
26. Do four mother/daughter activities with Aaliyah.
27. Attend one adoption related conference. UPCOMING
28. Redo Sean’s bedroom.
29. Research and acquire bids for finishing the basement in early 2010.
30. Host a Christmas Open House for neighbors.
31. Attend one charity event.
32. Coordinate a “Cook for Kids” volunteer activity for the Greater Minneapolis Crisis Nursery. SCHEDULED
33. Go for a jog with Kevin, at least once.
34. Review at least one play a month.
35. Re-read the Bible using the SOAP 365 plan.
36. Increase rate of saving.
37. Stick to Kevin’s budget parameters.
38. Have four couples’ dinners.
39. Plan and execute two fundraising events to raise money for the Swaziland AIDS orphans and to defray cost of the trip.
40. Have a Girls’ Day activity with sisters Sabrina and Katrina before they graduate from high school.
41. Surprise Kevin.

I just got a toll free 866# for my business! Progress! :-)

I went to a seminar entitled "The Lingering Effects of Childhood Trauma on Children and their Families" last night. As a young foster family, had we had this sort of information years ago maybe we would have fought harder to keep a young trouble foster child in our home. I'm still sad thinking that we probably added trauma to his life by insisting that he shift to yet another foster home. Darn!